According to the decision approved by the Ministry of Education of Ukraine from September 1st 2016 the schools with less than 25 pupils will cease to be funded from the state budget. School expenses, utilities and teachers’ salaries will be charged on the local communities.
There are 21 such schools in Kharkiv region. Each school will be discussed with parents and local authorities. If the village council or residents of the village are able to assume the costs, the school will keep its operation. Otherwise children will go to neighboring schools, they will be ensured by high-quality transportation, as the director of the Kharkiv regional department of Education and Science, Anatoliy Babichev, reported.
According to him, it’s extremely non profitable for the state to finance schools where pupils can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
“Last year, the average amount of subsidy to the rural pupil was 8500 hryvnias. So, the few children the more they cost, because utility bills are not going away, and if a class consists of one child, it is more efficiently to transfer him to a nearby school. In addition, based on our experience, in schools with a few pupils, the quality of education is unsatisfied,” Babichev stated.
